Court continues injunction protecting Little Sisters from HHS mandate

A statue of Our Lady of Fatima sits in front of the Supreme Court (CNS)

The Supreme Court issued a three-sentence order on Friday

The Supreme Court issued a three-sentence order on Friday affirming — for the time being — an injunction blocking enforcement against the Little Sisters of the Poor and the Christian Brothers of a mandate to provide contraceptive coverage in employee health insurance.

The order released late in the afternoon affirmed Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s December 31 order in the case. It temporarily blocks the federal government from requiring the Denver-based sisters and their co-plaintiffs at the Christian Brothers from having to meet that requirement of the Affordable Care Act.

The court said: “If the employer applicants inform the secretary of Health and Human Services in writing that they are nonprofit organizations that hold themselves out as religious and have religious objections to providing coverage for contraceptive services, the respondents are enjoined from enforcing against the applicants the challenged provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and related regulations pending final disposition of the appeal by the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.”

The requirement to provide coverage for contraceptives in employee health insurance does have an accommodation, or waiver, the government says would keep certain religious organizations from having to comply with the mandate.

The Little Sisters and the Christian Brothers had objected to being required to justify to the government that they should be entitled to an exemption from the mandate and that filling out the paperwork for a waiver that would instruct a third party to provide the contraceptive coverage amounts to them being part of the mechanism for providing abortion and other morally objectionable types of coverage.

The order said: “To meet the condition for injunction pending appeal, applicants need not use the form prescribed by the government and need not send copies to third-party administrators.”

The court’s order specified that the injunction “should not be construed as an expression of the court’s views on the merits” of the religious groups’ legal claims.

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ANNE

The Obama Administration wants to violate the freedom of religion clause in the US Constitution.
Obama wants everyone to pay for abortion and contraception.
God gave everyone a free will. Let those who choose to sin pay for their own sins.

ANNE

OBAMA refuses to spend tax dollars on teaching abstinence / chasitity. Because of this refusal billions of tax dollars are spent each year due to STDs (sexually transmitted deseases).

ANNE

Aiding and abetting the mortal sins of others makes us an accomplice.

JR, Sydney

Anne, in fact the “teaching abstinence/chastity” programmes ( all the go in the Bush era) in your country have been completely discredited which is why in most places they’ve been canned. Reliable research has shown that schoolchildren instructed in “abstinence only” sex education programmes have a recividism rate of 90% at 12 months post programme, with a frighteningly high rate of both teenage pregnancy and STIS.

A waste of taxpayers’ money.

JR, Sydney

Blimey, where do I start?

It is obvious to any sensible person that what Obama wants and advocates is universal health cover. I hope you relaise that even the most pious Brit poster ( and no I’m not a Brit but in my country we do have universal health cover thank God) , brought up with the NHS , regards the American model as an abomination where health insurance is tied to employment and all but the really well-off have the potential to get into serious financial strife if they either lose their jobs or get really sick.

It sees to me that what you hate is not the idea of paying for contraception or abortions but for paying for anyone else’s health care, especially if you perceive the consumer to be in some way “undeserving”.

As for your assertion that people should pay for their own sins, then perhaps you might care to reflect on what Our Lord said about those without sin casting the first stone.

JR, Sydney

“chuckle”

That’s a dangerous assertion to make. Just think, you might be aiding and abetting a whole heap of mortal sins with your support for wicked policies…I always think of those flag-wavers who sent their sons off to kill and be killed in an evil war…( slightly off-topic but then Obamacare is not all about contraception and abortion, is it??

Henry

JR, just bear in mind that much of the “concern” about Obamacare and its abortion/contraception problems in America is, in fact, a political concern. Reports indicate that Catholic women in the USA use contraceptives and get abortions at the same rate as the public in general – it is even reported that over 80% of Catholic women do use or have used contraceptives. It is unlikely that many of them are privately opposed to the so-called contraceptive mandate. Inevitably, those attempting to kill Obamacare for political reasons have leapt onto this issue and “mortal sins” and political votes are often difficult to disentangle. It is also noteworthy that contraception has been virtually a standard offering in large company health insurance for years without complaint and the NY archdiocese itself provided this coverage to many of its lay employees also for many years again without complaint until Obamacare arrived. You judge what is religious morality and what is politics.

Henry

Anne, if what you say is true – what should the Church do about the bishops who aided and abetted the abusive priests by hiding them away since those bishops are clearly in a state of mortal sin? These are some of the same bishops fighting against the Obamacare contraception mandate.

JR, Sydney

Hi Henry, thanks for this and yes, I am very aware of both the reproductive track record of American Catholic women ( same the world over it seems) & the fact that this is a political football kicked by the Tea Partyites. Talk about wolves in sheep’s clothing…